Sweet Emotion
by wihta
Summary: Sasuke has at long last returned to Konoha after 7 long years. What exactly happens when he does come back? We'll find out.
1. All Apologies

Hi everyone (again). Here's some stuff you should know. Sinceee AnimeSpiral is being all oooomg /unpredictable. I've decided to just stick with FanFiction. Good thing I saved this version on my computer! I never _actually _got to get past this chapter on AS... what with the site constantly being down and my constantly getting grounded. I hope I can finallyyyy finish it. I had so many plans for this story. And with like, what, _years _having passed since I actually started this, I have even more ideas for it, feedback and ideas from all you guys are always welcome though! Also hoping I can make Sasuke less OCC, but meh. Thinking I will ultimately fail. lolol.

Expect the unexpected. shwahh.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the song that I'm using as my title.**

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Chapter 1- All Apologies

_Hmph. Back again._

The Shell of a man, once a leaf ninja, stood at the gates of the home he left so long ago. A Shell of a man who once had friends who cared about him like a family. A Shell of a man who onced cared for and even loved friends he used to have, though the Shell of a man who rarely showed emotion. We all knew there was.

A Shell, since that same man now no longer exists.

The Shell of a man had achieved his life long _ambition_. He abandoned his village 7 years ago, in a search for power. He found it in one of the 3 sanin of Konohagakure: Orochimaru. He trained under Orochimaru for 2 in a half years, only to ultimately defeat the sannin and absorb him into his body. Then, he formed his own team of 4, including himself; named "Snake", formed for the sole purpose of tracking down his brother.

_Mission accomplished._

At long last, the Shell of a man faced down his brother, a brother he learned to loathe, becoming stronger in an _ambition _to one day avenge the family he lost because of him. The Shell seemed to know everything of his brother, the true purpose of his fate as a spare in a massacre, the truth behind it all.

_Mission accomplished._ So he thought.

The whole "truth" was exposed as a lie; a lie that was lied to him to protect him. Truly, this truth had to be a lie, it had to be.

No.

A Shell's brother, planning his sacrifice to his only beloved brother since the very beginning. All out of love. _Love. _Could this Shell remember what love was?

_Hn._

Madara, tending to his wounds after the Shell had avenged his family at last, had revealed a new truth to him, the real Truth.

So here he was. A Shell of a man taking his place at last as the heir to his former clan. He took his brother's final act of love: his Mangekyo Sharingan. A Shell saved from the darkness forever; the Inevitable and Orochimaru himself.

But could he be saved from the darkness of his own heart? Perhaps.

The Shell planned to irradicate Konoha completely.

_Not even worth my time._

The Shell disbanded his group, to at last return to a village; a village who only remembers this Shell as the man he once was.

The Shell of a man named Uchiha Sasuke.

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"Hurry up, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto and Sakura rush through Konoha, heading for the Hokage's building.

"I'm coming, I'm coming! I'm--" Naruto crashes into another familiar figure.

"What the..oh Naruto!"

"I'm sorry, sensei!"

"That's all right...where are you guys heading to that's got you all excited?" Kakashi asks, rubbing his head slightly from the impact.

"Hokage's office!! Haven't you heard? Sasuke's come home!"

Team Kakashi crashes into the door to the 5th's office, all panting from the long run.

"Tsunade ba-chan!! Has Sa...suke.." Naruto trails off as his eyes settle on the Shell of a man he once knew, and the eyes of Sakura and Kakashi follow. The Uchiha turns

his head to look at the family he once had. He gives them the same cold stare he gave them years before.

"..Sa..Sasuke.."

"Naruto."

"Sasuke-kun.."

"Hn."

The room was quiet, heavy in mixed emotion. The tension between them, the distance. The tension and distance seemed to grow even more intense. They seemed to drift further, a friendship formally strong seemed to crumble in a matter of seconds.

Lol.

"SASUKE!!" Naruto, tears in his eyes, at last charges at the Shell of what was once his best friend, his brother.

Who is this new man, with the face of Uchiha?

Naruto embraces Sasuke in a fierce hug, crying into his shoulder. Just about as manly as a hug could get.

"Naruto..you haven't changed at all." He doesn't react to the hug, his emotionless eyes unphased, smirking the same cool smile this brother knew so well.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura, also having broken into tears, embraces Sasuke on his other side. "I've missed you so much..."

"Hn."

"So, you actually came back on your own, eh?" Kakashi chimed in, smiling secretly through his mask.

"As beautiful as this...moment...is. Sasuke and I have important matters to discuss. Since you've already forgotten, Uchiha Sasuke is an S-class criminal of Konohagakure, and will be treated as such." Sasuke face remains in it's normal stoic demeanor.

"Hn."

"But...Tsunade ba-chan--"

"She's right." All heads turn to Sasuke.

"Sasuke what the hell..!?--"

"Naruto..unfortunately there are consequences to leaving and betraying the village, whether or not you actually try to harm it. Sasuke..is a criminal. And as Hokage, Tsunade-sama must do her job and give punishment accordingly.." Kakashi explains, with a slight break in his voice.

"..Sasuke-kun.." Sakura says helplessly.

"I suggest you all leave now."

The tension returns..

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"Now, where were we?"

"Hell."

"Don't get smart with me, Uchiha. If I were you, I'd try to get on my good side."

"What does it matter? My rights as a ninja are going to be stripped from me, regardless. Or, I'll be fuckin' exiled from here completely. What happens if I get on your 'good side', huh? Give me a fucking gift basket and send me on my goddamn way?" The room was still, their eyes met in a burning glare.

"I'm not going to exile you, I know very well why you left, and I can sense a change in you. I assume..you know the truth then?"

"...Yeah."

"I see...I'm sure Itachi didn't intend for you to be regarded as a criminal, now did he?" Tsunade smiles reassuringly.

"..." Sasuke looks away. _Itachi.._

"You don't have to worry, Sasuke," He turns his attention back to her, "I'm giving you the rank of jonin."

"..."

"Learn to trust people, Sasuke."

"Don't you think it's a little, oh I don't know, _strange_ that you're giving an S-Class missing-nin a jonin rank and no punishment whatsoever? At least make this situation a bit realistic...Tsunade-_sama._" Sasuke stares at Tsunade darkly.

"I would think you would take the offer, no question."

"I would think a Hokage would do her job." Tsunade let out an irritated sigh."Don't question me, little boy. I know damn well how to do my job. I don't have a fucking reason to punish you seriously. Though you left the village without permission or even a notification that you were planning on doing so, you didn't harm the village. In fact, not only did you take down Orochimaru, one of the most dangerous threats to our village, but in doing so you completely eliminated one of the most difficult hurdles to overcome during this war against the Sound Village. It's pretty much ended with him out of the way, we've been able to conquer his bases, one after the other. Soon we will be able to overpower the Land of Sound completely and liberate the Land of Rice Fields. And by taking out...well you know who..you've also partially crippled the Akatsuki, striking a blow at our war against Akatsuki. I'm rewarding you for your active work in Konoha's saftey and victory. You're a war hero, intentionally or not."

"Hn."

"So yes, I thank you for your efforts in our times of war, though there is one punishment you will recieve." He nods, showing no emotion. Like old times... "I'm putting you on probation... you will function normally as a ninja and you won't exactly be restricted as a criminal, but you will be closely watched by me. One slip up and you're done." Silence.

"...Then who is my new team?"

"I guess I should let you know now. In your absence, I assigned a replacement ninja to your formal ninja team 7. His name is Sai."

"Hn."

"You will be temporarily teamless, I'll call you back to meet when I've figured out an arrangement for you."

"Alright..."

"Take care, Uchiha."

"JONIN?! YOU'RE A JONIN?!" Naruto spits ramen all over Sasuke's face. They'd met at Ichiraku with Sakura after he'd been dismissed. Sasuke calmly wipes away the noodles and Naruto's saliva.

"Yes..."

"What the hell?! Damn! Why did she do that?!"

"She said I was a 'war hero'."

"And she didn't punish you at all?"

"I'm on probation."

"Oh..well who did Tsunade-ba team you with now? I mean, with us with Sai now and all--"

"She hasn't figured it out yet."

"Well, hopefully the old lady can find a way to set us all back together again, right Sakura?"

"Yeah, it would be so great to have Sasuke-kun back with us!"

"Peh. Are you still about as useless as last time we were a team?" Sasuke smirked. Sakura sweatdropped and smiled nervously.

"No, no! Ever since you left, I've been training with Tsunade-sama to become stronger...to help get you to come back home.."

"Hn."

**Oh my god, he's so sexy when he smirks!!**

"I still can't believe she made you a jonin after being a damn criminal..!" Naruto pouts and crosses his arms, upset that Sasuke didn't even have to take the chuunin exams the way he did.

"Would you rather have me executed or exiled? Like a _damn criminal?_" Sasuke raises a brow.

"No! No!"

"Nope! Not at all!" Both Naruto and Sakura waves their arms around and shake their heads violently, clearly stating they would not want any of that. Naruto finally finishes disagreeing and continues with the conversation, "Sasuke, you should show me how much stronger you've gotten over the last few years, cause I have a couple of new tricks up my sleeve my self-ttebayo!"

"Yeah..me too."

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Yep. That's Chapter 1. Hope it wasn't too horrible. And also hope I'll continue this one.

PS: I know I have another story on this site..it's been three years since I wrote it and I know I didn't update that one past the first chapter either but honestly I really don't like it. If you realllyy want me to continue it then let me know but I'll be trying to focus on this one otherwise.

All Apologies, by Nirvana.


	2. Manic Depression

1Ooooh Chapter 2...the farthest I've ever gotten yay! Let's not get cocky now.  
And I'm actually not sure of the pairing I'm going to make yet. All I know is it will be romance.... I'm keeping Sasuke's options open for now. c:

Expect the unexpected. shwahh.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the song that I'm using as my title.**

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Chapter 2 - Manic Depression

"Ahh, fuck!"

Naruto fell back panting, exhausted. His dual with Sasuke didn't go as well as he had planned. Almost all his chakra was used up, even in using Kyuubi's power. Sasuke was worn as well, but at least he could still stand. They were almost completely evenly matched, but as old times, Sasuke still came out on top. Barely.

It's been a week since Sasuke had returned.

They'd met up earlier at their old training spot, back when they'd just begun as Team 7. Naruto was determined to prove to Sasuke he had gotten stronger, even stronger than Sasuke himself. Hell, he would have settled with it just being a tie. Naruto threw everything he had at Sasuke, he even almost considered going into his fourth Kyuubi form, but Sasuke was still able to counter each strike, even without his cursed seal. He was very disappointed he was still second best to him, even after so many years of hard training. He mentally kicked himself for not trying hard enough.

_I guess he just trained harder...damned bastard._

"hahhh..hahh..since when do you know how to create shadow clones?" Naruto complained. Sasuke'd even been able to create more clones than Naruto. "I mean seriously, what the hell!"

"Learned it last time you used it on me. It's your own fault, dobe." Naruto pouted, and collapsed completely on the ground, defeated by Sasuke once again.

"Next thing I know you'll be using the Rasengan on me, too! You know, one day I am gonna totally beat you! And not just beat you, I will pummel you into the ground! A bloody pulp! And I'll do it with one hand tied behind my back!"  
"Yeah, we'll see." Sasuke walked over to Naruto and stretched out his hand to him in a gesture to help him up. Naruto flared his nose and made a face at Sasuke as if to say 'I don't need your help with anything!', but ultimately grabbed his hand and allowed him to help him up. He supported his weight against him, having one of Naruto's arms around his shoulders and wrapping his own arm around his waist.

"You know, I think you like me holding you this way," Sasuke smirked. Naruto's jaw dropped, almost literally to the ground.

"Wha--wha–?! What the hell is wrong with you?! I-- pshh-- you–..?!"

"Hn, relax, I was kidding."  
"W-well whatever! Just walk me to the damned office already, bastard!"  
"Heh, with the way you reacted, I think I could have been serious, fag."

"Shut up!"

They planned on meeting Kakashi and Sakura at the Hokage's office in an hour. Finally, after a week Tsunade came up with some sort of arrangement to place Sasuke in a team. She asked the previous Team 7 to accompany him, they all were hoping it was because she found a way to reunite them. Why else would she ask all four of them to come if she was only assigning Sasuke to a team? Logic is wonderful, yes it is.

"We're all finally gonna be together again!"  
"Oh, boy."

"It'll be like old times.. except I'll be the top ninja calling the shots and hopefully you won't bring us all down with your stupid avenger shit! 'Oooh look at me I'm Sasuke and I'm so cool I'm gonna kill my brother and _EVERRYTHANG_!'" If looks could kill, Naruto'd be brutally murdered by the glare Sasuke shot at him. _How dare he mock me.._

"Oh yeah? 'Oooh look at me I'm Naruto and I use the same voice to impersonate _EVERRYTHANG_!'"

"'I'm Sasuke and I'm a doodie head!'"  
"'I'm Naruto the _faggot!_'"

"Goddamn it, Sasuke!" Naruto, egged on by Sasuke mocking him back, used the arm he had around his shoulders to pull Sasuke down to the ground...

Or at least attempted to. Instead, Sasuke's shoulder didn't even budge, Naruto's tug inadvertently hugged him closer to Sasuke. He looked quite cozy, even while still struggling to pin him into a helpless position so he could beat the shit out of him. Not only did he not realize how absolutely adorable he looked basically cuddling at Sasuke, Naruto was completely oblivious to all the people around them watching. Sasuke wasn't.

"Gosh, babe... I didn't realize we were _this _far into our relationship. I thought you'd want to keep it secret at least for another week..." Sasuke smirked and pulled Naruto closer to him. Naruto's eyes snapped open and he thought he was going to die of embarrassment. Everyone watched the couple as they walked past them, some suppressing their giggles, some pointing and totally losing their mind in laughter .

"Oh my GOD, Sasuke! _FUCK _you!" and Naruto shoved Sasuke off him, then of course falling to the ground forgetting he needed Sasuke to lean on as he walked.

_Fucking chakra._ Sasuke once again extends his hand to Naruto, but this time grabs his arm and pulls him up forcefully, so his lips were at his ear.

"That's what you get for mocking me. If you knew what was good for you, you'd keep your stupid, dick-sucking faggot mouth shut about my 'avenger shit'... about Itachi." All of a sudden, Naruto didn't feel the need to hold a grudge. He gulped and nodded.

_Damn, I thought he wanted to kill him?.._

They walked the rest of the way in silence. Naruto eventually found the strength to walk on his own, and kept some distance in between himself and Sasuke. He seemed to have calmed down, but Naruto couldn't exactly be sure. He's been pretty unpredictable since he'd returned...

Mostly, Sasuke seemed normal. Well, about as normal as a Sasuke could be: stoic and sarcastic. But even though he acted indifferent, he seemed happy to be back in Konoha, back with him and Kakashi and Sakura... though the word 'seemed' would be key. Was he really happy? Naruto thought and thought and thought. Even though he was "mostly" normal, there were still the times he'd act totally... abnormal. For lack of a better term. And not abnormal in the way Naruto is. He'd get extremely hostile sometimes, almost spontaneously, hostile to the point he could be considered seriously dangerous. What could have happened to him in the seven years he'd been gone? Seven years was quite a long absence, anything could've happened. But not just anything. It would have to be big to get Sasuke this on-edge, this hostile, defensive, of something he vowed to kill.

_Maybe he developed a Bi-Polar disorder._

It was plausible, but still. His swings into hostility always seemed to be triggered by something. He thought back to the last time Sasuke'd almost killed him.

_"Come on, Sasuke, tell me!"  
"What are you talking about, dobe." Naruto'd been following him around all day, still eager and giddy about his return home._

_"You knowwww! You knowwww..!!"  
"No."  
"Come onnnnn! About your whole time gone! What did you do..HOW did you do it? Come on, come on--" smack. "uhh..!" Naruto's nose exploded red, he felt woozy and was about to fall back from the impact, but his collapse was interrupted by Sasuke grabbing him by the neck and slamming him against the wall._

_"Sas--...!" Sasuke used his other hand to slap it against his mouth, Naruto struggled weakly.._

_"Don't ever... ever..." Sasuke trailed off... then released him and walked away, as if nothing happened. Naruto was stunned...he tried to call out to him but he blacked out.._

It was scary to Naruto, Sasuke didn't even show it, that anything bothered him. Until of course he was pinned against a wall with a bloody nose or publically humiliated and almost publically threatened. In fact, if he didn't continue thinking on it like right now, he probably wouldn't even have thought anything of Sasuke's threat or anger as more than his normal tough guy 'don't mess with me' thing. He also didn't pay attention to what he was doing as he deeply thought about Sasuke's... well, abnormal hostility, until Sasuke punched him in the arm.

"Quit staring."

"Err-- sorry.. and don't go calling me a faggot again!"

"Hn."

Some more awkward minutes passed by soundlessly. Sasuke muttered something about being sorry for his behavior and stress being the cause of it, Naruto nodded. He didn't see the point in prying into him, even though he'd normally ask and ask until he'd finally be annoyed into it. Talking about whatever had happened during those seven years obviously set Sasuke completely off and he didn't want to chase him away from Konoha again. He'd let Sasuke keep it to himself, for now at least. For now, he'd just be happy to have him back. He walked in closer and playfully elbowed him in the ribs.

"Come onnn... we're supposed to be excited! The old team back together again!"  
"Yeah."

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Man. I realize these chapters aren't particularly long... but the next scenes I'm planning are sooo much more different than what happened in this chapter, so I decided to just end it there. Hopefully I'll write this and people will actually like it. ;-; Please review. :c  
I'm going to be introducing a new character next chapter... that I created. _She _will also be a candidate for Sasuke's affection. But I'm not positive. Oh well.

Manic Depression, by Jimi Hendrix


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